[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 29, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1587]]
      CARIBBEAN TOURISM OFFICIALS TACKLE ISSUE OF AIRLINE SERVICE

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                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to enter into the Record a 
July 15, 2008 New York Carib News article entitled: `` CARICOM Heads 
Tourism Talk.''
  The article speaks of the challenges that the tourism-based Caribbean 
economy is facing due to high oil prices and a ``17 percent cutback on 
airline services from the United States.'' Caribbean officials are 
meeting the challenge of protecting their most profitable industry by 
gearing up to market the Caribbean as a brand by ``looking at the 
Caribbean as a single space.'' There have also been talks of combining 
the regional civil aviation authorities.
  Increasingly, Caribbean officials are recognizing the need to unite 
some of their services in order to increase the viability of their 
tourism industry in the midst of rising oil prices. One of the 
discussions and outcomes of the successful New York CARICOM Conference 
was the possibility of Jet Blue, the popular discount airline, 
providing service to the Caribbean. With Jet Blue, the Caribbean can 
regain the much needed air service that is being lost due to high oil 
prices.

                       CARICOM Heads Tourism Talk

       St John's, Antigua, CMC--Caribbean Community (CARICOM) 
     leaders began deliberations focusing on the tourism sector 
     that has been a key contributor to their countries' 
     economies.
       There are concerns that recent global developments, such as 
     the rising cost of fuel and changes in flight schedules by 
     US-based airlines, could undermine the viability of an 
     industry that provides thousands of jobs for Caribbean 
     nationals.
       The leaders will hear special presentations by St. Lucia's 
     Tourism Minister and Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism 
     Organization (CTO) Allan Chastenet and his Antigua and 
     Barbuda counterpart, Harold Lovell, on efforts to make the 
     sector more competitive in light of the new threats, 
     including a 17 percent cutback in airline services from the 
     United States, the region's main tourism market.
       Chastenet told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that 
     oil prices were expected to reach an estimated US$170 a 
     barrel and that this could also be accompanied by a 20 per 
     cent cut in capacity by the US airlines industry.
       ``Clearly, as the price of oil continues to increase, that 
     may get more serious,'' he said.
       The CTO Chairman said that the presentation would again 
     emphasize the need for branding the Caribbean, adding a 
     ``brand is just not marketing, it is a promise''.
       ``Unfortunately we have not done that,'' he said, adding 
     that the introduction of the satellite accounting system to 
     measure the economic importance of the tourism industry to 
     Caribbean countries was vital.
       ``Tourism is never reflected in national accounts and if 
     something is not measurable you can't improve upon it,'' he 
     said.
       ``We are going to do a presentation because we have now 
     found funding to help the governments implement satellite 
     accounting systems in each country.''
       The leaders will also discuss the air transportation 
     sector, with Chastenet indicating that the issue of 
     establishing hubs to service the region would be on the 
     agenda.
       ``Also, we would be looking at the Caribbean as a single 
     space,'' he said, also noting that there is need to combine 
     the various civil aviation authorities in the region.
       ``One has to consider whether we can achieve more by having 
     one civil aviation authority that would be more cost 
     effective and more prolific in what they are trying to 
     achieve.''
       Chastenet said the crisis now confronting the tourism 
     industry has also shown that the operations of the regional 
     airlines are not viable.``One of the things that all of our 
     airlines are proving in this region is that they are not 
     economically viable, so we know that the model we have been 
     using doesn't work and I am really hoping that we really have 
     functional cooperation.
       There should be at least a meeting a year in which the 
     regional carriers are sitting down and trying to make sure 
     that their schedules are coincided,'' he said.
       ``Why should a person have to leave the Bahamas and have to 
     go the (United) States in order to come to the other parts of 
     the Caribbean?
       ``Why can't that take place through Jamaica and then down 
     into the Eastern Caribbean. It is ridiculous that Caribbean 
     Airlines and LIAT don't even interlock. So those are the 
     things that we will be bringing to the Heads' attention and 
     basically saying this is now having a negative impact on our 
     tourism arrivals.
       Host Prime Minister and CARICOM Chairman Baldwin Spencer 
     said that increases in airfares and new airline charges were 
     also contributing to the ``bleak perspectives for the 
     region's tourism-driven economies''.
       He said that while he was encouraged by the efforts of the 
     regional airline LIAT to fill the void created by the 
     reduction in airlift by US air carriers, it was not, however, 
     a viable proposition. ``International airlift is a present 
     and critical problem. So, too, regional sea and air 
     transportation for tourism and trade and personal and 
     business travel,'' Spencer said.

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